THE photographs on this page appeared in the Adver 79 years ago and are reproduced directly from the fragile original page.

Sadly, the original glass plate negatives do not survive.

The story the pictures accompanied begins: “Ordinarily one is inclined to regard the making of model aeroplanes, motor-boats and locomotives as a playful diversion useful, mainly, for the filling in of idle moments.

“In the case of Mr RG Nethercot, of Manchester Road, Swindon, who is secretary of Swindon Model Boat and Engineering Club, however, model-making not only involves a good workable knowledge of the principles of engineering and mechanics, but also an aptitude for constructional design.

“Mr Nethercot has 20 years of model-making experience behind him and was the creator of the five-inch gauge model of a Pacific loco which, running on a track 185 feet long at the Rodbourne Cheney lake and pleasure ground, gave joy rides to hundreds of children.

“Altogether £15 was taken in pennies, and each passenger, for his or her penny, was given a 740-feet ride - twice up and down the track.”

The lake and pleasure ground, of course, was the site known to generations of local people as Plaum’s Pit Plummies, and which remains popular among anglers and others who enjoy tranquil surroundings.

The club, founded in 1931, not only survives but thrives, although it relocated to Coate Water many years ago.

Traditionally many of those drawn to the hobby are engineers and craftspeople, whether professional or amateur, and in 1939, with the Railway Works still in its prime, there was a ready supply of such people.

Mr Nethercot, we revealed, was working on his most ambitious project to date, a motorised model vessel at least six feet long and capable of about 16mph.

He intended to race it, and such models were often fitted with ingenious automatic rudder mechanisms designed to keep them on course and not fall victim to the backwash of fellow competitors.

We added: “The designer is working in his spare time in his back garden workshop with the aid of a four-inch electrically-driven lathe.

“He is also designing and making the engine and boiler to his own specifications for pre-determined speed and performance.”

The engine, we said, had two cylinders and weighed five or six pounds, while the heart of the boiler was 20 feet of steel tube.